CORRELATION BETWEEN GADGET USE HABITUAL AND MENTAL HELATH STATUS AMONG PRESCHOOLER CHILDREN

The high rate of gadget use in adolescence are increasing the tendency of gadget use in children which can give both negative and positive impact. One of the negative impacts of gadget use among children is the mental health problem. Therefore, it is essential for parents to understand how to control gadget use in their children, and also know their mental health status. This study aims to determine the correlation between gadget use habitual based on American Academy of Pediatric’s (AAP) recommendations. with mental health status based on Kuesioner Masalah Mental Emosional (KMEE). This study is observational analytic, through the cross-sectional approach to 70 preschooler children in three kindergartens in Bandung Wetan district using random cluster sampling. The results of this study showed 39 children used gadget more than one hour for a day and nine children start using the gadget since their age was younger than 18 months, and there were 36 children have disoriented mental health. Data analyzed by chi-square and showed the significant correlation between gadget use habitual based on duration and mental health status. But there’s no correlation between gadget use habitual based on onset and mental health status. Inappropriate gadget use in children based on AAP recommendations could give the negative impact for children’s mental health, meanwhile appropriate gadget use in children could help the development of children’s cognition, language, and social.